The Football Forecast

Arsenal eye African star

Arsenal have revealed that they have made Victor Wanyama their priority target for next months transfer window, reports from the Mirror can confirm.

The Southampton midfielder is near the top of Arsene Wenger’s transfer list after a haul of injuries to the Gunners midfield.

Wenger has admitted his admiration of the Kenyan midfielder and is prepared to offer the required amount of money to capture him in January.

Ever since his break through season at Celtic where he started to become a popular figure, he had been on Arsenal’s radar long before he joined Southampton for £12.5million back in the summer of 2013, seeing him become the first ever Kenyan to play in the Premier League.

Wanyama made 24 appearances in his first season for the Saints, but unfortunate injuries disrupted his impact in the team and was often on the bench. However, two seasons on and he is back on track. Although competition in midfield has been tough, when he has played he has put in some outstanding displays and has matched that with being the captain of his home nation. This has seen him become one of the main players again down at the South coast club and has the potential to make a big impact in 2015-16.

Southampton struggled to fight off competition from Tottenham in the summer for the powerful midfielder, but the Gunner’s will have no problem offering the funds that could persuade the club to let one of their star players go.

After impressively qualifying for the knockout stages in the Champions League this week, Arsenal are determined to strengthen their squad with the thought of a Premier League title push in mind too.

The North London side have seen their squad hit by recent injuries to key midfielders such as Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla so there will be no second thoughts on bringing Wanyama to the Emirates. Along with that, if Arsenal are to make this the season they win the league then weaker players such as Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini may need replacing in order to offer more strength and threat in that area of the pitch.

After being ‘hugely impressed’ with the Kenyan’s performances over the past few seasons, Arsenal are now certain to step up their scouting and make an offer for him next month, and are likely to have to pay £15 million or more to get their man.

With his power, energy, crunching tackles and a determination to win, the African will be the perfect player to slot into Arsenal’s defensive midfield position in their 4-2-3-1 formation, and will certainly bolster the Gunners ranks if the deal goes through.